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After returning form the gruelling inaugural Tour of Qatar in Abu Dhabi last week, Schoeman clocked 3hr26min33sec to finish in second place in the 121km race, which doubled as the second round of the prestigious Alpha Pharm Seeding Series, before finding out that the women’s Viljoen was penalised for being given illegal assistance by her team car to return to the breakaway group, after suffering two punctures.

The race saw a five-rider break away, as Viljoen, Marissa van der Merwe (both MTN), Schoeman (Nashua Telecoms), Ashleigh Moolman (Cycle Lab Supercycling Toyota) and Jennie Stenerhag (Alpha Pharm) tried to split the field in the strong winds before the halfway mark.

Viljoen punctured twice and each time returned to the breakaway group with the assistance of her team support vehicle after quick wheel changes, which race officials deemed against the International Cycling Union rules. The sprint saw Viljoen finish first in 3hr26min33sec with Schoeman and Stenerhag rounding out the podium places.

“It’s not nice winning a race like that,” said Schoeman on finding out that Viljoen had been penalised. “I came here very tired after the Tour of Qatar, and I really wanted to finish as high up as I could to earn points for the Alpha Pharm Seeding Series. A win is really a big bonus.”

Stenerhag retained her lead in the women’s division of the Alpha Pharm Seeding Series as more than 3700 participants entered the popular race, which also served as a Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour seeding event.

The third round of the Alpha Pharm Seeding Series is the Daily Despatch Felt Cycle Tour in East London on Sunday 22 February. For full results, visit the Winning Time website, and for more on the Alpha Pharm Seeding Series, visit the Cycle Tour website.

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